The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has been declared the overall winner of the Integrated report of the year award of the Financial Reporting Awards (FiRe) by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU).
The country’s social security fund exhibited the highest mode of financial reporting with excellence, transparency, accuracy, good communication skills among others as stipulated by the international standards.
NSSF won a Golden award and was followed by Centenary Rural Development Bank that won a Silver award and Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited that won a Bronze award.
During the awards ceremony, ICPAU President, CPA Constant Othieno Mayende congratulated the winners of all the different categories for having taken off time to participate in the most prestigious awards in the country amid the COVID-19 challenges.
“I congratulate the 2021 winners in your various categories, for your outstanding performance. Every entrant in the FiRe Awards competition is a winner because of the professional feedback review the organisations receive at no cost. I am certain that your efforts will be rewarded in many respects,” CPA Mayende said.
Mayende noted that the winners of the FiRe Awards have often attested to: increased investor confidence, enhanced teamwork, brand visibility and improved overall organizational performance.
The Institute also used the occasion to as well celebrate the International Day of Accountants celebrated every 10th November.
The President thus reiterated his call to all Accountants in the country to uphold professional ethics and guard the profession against corruption and theft.
“A nation is only as strong as the integrity of its people. Theft and the misuse of public resources are the reason that many nations lag behind. Therefore, we must guard ourselves against these vices by upholding the values of professionalism. Accountants serve in the public interest. CPAs are expected to have integrity, be objective and refrain from actions which discredit the profession,” CPA Mayende made the appeal.
The Chairperson of the FiRe Awards Committee, CPA Stephen Ineget noted that the institute is impressed by the level of enthusiasm and commitment that several companies have expressed in the awards.
“The 2021 FiRe Awards attracted a total of 88 participating entities. Due to the current pandemic-related restrictions and challenges, some organisations informed the FiRe Awards Committee that they were not able to finalize their annual reports in time for submission,” Ineget said.
CPA Ineget said that ICPAU, Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) hold annually the Financial Reporting (FiRe) Awards and this year, the Awards run under the theme: “Integrated Reporting (<IR>): Building Blocks for Stakeholder Confidence”.
